Adam Warlock Won't Show Up in Guardians of the Galaxy 3?

After releasing the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 script for free, James Gunn revealed that Adam Warlock is not 100% confirmed for the next installment in the Guardians universe, adding that it might take a bit longer than expected for the character to "bake in that cocoon." After the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, many assumed that Adam Warlock was definitely going to be heading to the MCU next with the image of his cocoon and his name being mentioned during a post-credits scene. Gunn also teased fans over the summer by sharing on social media that he was reading up on Adam Warlock. So, what's the deal, is Adam Warlock showing up in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 or not?

James Gunn took to Twitter earlier this week to say that Adam Warlock is not confirmed for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The director said that it might take longer for us to see the villain on the big screen than initially thought over the summer. Gunn had this to say.

"And despite so many people thinking Adam will show up in Vol 3 that is something that we have never confirmed. Who knows how long it will take him to bake in that cocoon. That said, I love Adam. But the time must be right."

Gunn does sound playful in tone and he has done more than his fair share of teasing that Warlock will be heading to the MCU. However, the director also revealed that it was a tough sell to get the character into the post-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. While James Gunn may be trying to get fans away from the Adam Warlock character as a diversion, he also mentioned that the character will not show up in Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers 4. The director explains.

"I awoke with a vision of the Stakar Ravagers scene in my head and couldn't stop thinking about it for days. We almost didn't include the Adam Warlock scene because he was definitely not in Avengers 3 or 4 and we had no plans for him in general."

James Gunn has said in the past that he was left alone to write Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and that he shared his stories with the Russo Brothers for Infinity War. That being said, Marvel gave the director a little bit of pushback for trying to include Adam Warlock in Vol. 2. As it turns out, Marvel was skeptical because they did not want to lead fans on into thinking that Warlock was going to show up in Infinity War, a movie that obviously does not need any more characters. Gunn took to Twitter after the release of Vol. 2 to announce that Warlock would not be appearing in Infinity War to reassure Marvel and to keep speculation from spreading. James Gunn had this to say.

"I had to fight for Adam in the post-credits sequence. Because I really thought that's where that should go. And I thought one of the main reasons to have the Sovereign in the movie was to give audiences the hint that Adam Warlock is coming. That was one of the reasons for them to exist. And I wrote that post-credits sequence in the first draft of the script. And then there were a lot of questions about whether or not we should put that in there, because people were going to expect Adam Warlock in Infinity War. So one of the things I promised - which I do all of the time on Twitter - is letting everyone know that Adam Warlock is not going to be in Avengers 3 or Avengers 4. It's just not going to happen. Because I didn't want people to have false expectations of what they thought was going to happen with Adam."

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 might not have Adam Warlock in it, but it's a safe bet to assume that he'll show up after the dust has settled following Infinity War and Avengers 4. Gunn has said that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will have a hand in setting up the next phase of the MCU and his teasing of Adam Warlock could very well be for the next phase. After all, James Gunn revealed just this week that he was already cooking up ideas for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 while he was writing Vol. 1. This is definitely a director who likes to start cooking things up early. You can read more about the inclusion of Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 below, courtesy of James Gunn's Twitter account.

12 And despite so many people thinking Adam will show up in Vol 3 that is something that we have never confirmed. Who knows how long it will take him to bake in that cocoon. That said, I love Adam. But the time must be right.